As I walked into the AOL offices, Jacques Morel Jr. was having a meeting in the front conference room with four MCs from across the country for his latest show of BARS, a Facebook Live streaming show living on the Huffpost Black Voices’ page. The only weekly show I’ve ever heard of strictly on FB Live. Minutes before the show, we were able to snap a few pictures around the office and set. As the show went live, I sat in the cut enjoying the talented MCs, especially one by the name of Sex the Rapper (You will see in the video below). After a quick breakdown and clean up by Jacques amazing crew, we headed back to the conference room for a convo…

Last week I had the opportunity to document Nicole Russell speaking to high school students participating in a program called Usher’s New Look on the topic of service. Ever since I met Nicole, she has always been so giving and always providing service to others. After the event, we stopped at a Starbucks in the city to chat before going our separate ways…

Around Noon yesterday, in a lowly lit bar area inside the beautiful lobby of the Ace Hotel I met up with Dannis Winston who was grabbing a quick bite to eat. His styling was simple yet noticeable & was rocking a dope pair of Chucks I personally have been thinking of picking up. During our convo, learning about Dannis, I was immediately drawn in.

Chris Classic has always struck me as an interesting and well informed individual. During our random encounters, we always have some great conversations. In town to visit his son, I was able to cross paths with Chris for a feature on Chucks&Cameras. Traveling from Atlanta, Chris didn’t pack a pair of Chucks, so we stopped by the Converse Store in Soho to grab a pair of the classic black & white Chucks..

A few days into NY Fashion Week and I found myself documenting fashion shows sponsored by Monster Products (Check some of photos on their Facebook). During my time shooting I kept running into a certain individual full of his own unique style. On the third day, fate had it that we both had time to spare between fashion shows and he was rocking a dope outfit fitted with some unreleased Chucks. Naturally we spoke on our love for Converse as a whole (I now need to check out the Converse store in Boston and get a custom pair!!) and was able to get a few quick photos during our conversation.

Today I want to introduce something new to the Chucks&Cameras site that I have been wanting to do for a while now. Sometimes trying to plan and map out an idea can delay the whole process and worse, stop your idea from ever taking shape.

Recently I have been doing things naturally and without much thought. Yesterday was one of those days. With New York Fashion Week beginning throughout the city, I embarked on finding an”Interesting” individual who fit a certain criteria: CHUCKS.

Standing outside 33rd St with so many other photographers (it gets real crazy out there if you are trying to take photos of guest and celebrities!!) at Moynihan Station, I surprisingly did not cross anyone who wore a pair of chucks. Just passing time I ran into a friend and next thing you know we gained info about a free happy hour going on across the street in the Target Lounge. New Goals: Relax, Drink a little, Charge phone.

This lounge was RED everything. Elegant, comforting and much more. Nice bar with some cool speciality drinks, a lot of seating, outlets, and AC. Live piano playing in the middle of the room was the cherry on top. During the live music, people were encouraged to come up and sing with the piano player. Thats where I found my subject, in his comfort zone, up on stage with a mic in his hand. Singing to everyone, getting people involved. It was dope.

“I Feel Like Big Sean!” exclaims Melanie Fiona as she stands draped in a snow-white faux mink coat, with both fists raised towards the ceiling like a boxer who just received a decision. On this day in particular, Fiona’s ring is the breath taking Minus 5 Ice Bar in Midtown, Manhattan and she’ll be sparring in 23-degree weather, jabbing camera lenses with charismatic poses. “Canadians are made for this,” quips Fiona confidently when warned of the effects of the lingering cold. – Greg Cally

I love going on Facebook randomly and seeing the memories tab with a dope photo I once took. Over time you forget some of the cool and interesting things you once done. 3 years ago to the day, I did a shoot in one of the most interesting places yet. I had the opportunity to photograph a favorite singer of mines, Melanie Fiona, in a freezing cold, ice bar.

Literally everything from the walls, floor, seating, lighting structures, even the mugs were made of ice. Here and there you saw some type of fur to sit on over the ice, but everything else was sculpted from ice. Looking back, this location was super epic. Not even a week open and Minus 5 Below open their doors to us for this editorial shoot.

The concept came from my partner Greg Cally and I. We wanted to feature Mel and got wind she had a new single coming out soon named Cold Piece. Randomly I remember hearing about a new bar about to open made of complete ice and thought it would be crazy to do a location based shoot there. To that point, all of our editorial shoots for Greg’s site Page31.com had been studio only. I was getting tired of that and definitely wanted to switch up from the sites norm. We found the contact for the bar and after a brief phone call and email, they were on board. Once we secured the location and spoke with Melanie’s management, the ball was moving.